AP File PhotoNick Castellanos will be a solid outfielder at some point, but his bat is nearly major-league ready, Dave Dombrowski said Wednesday.

DETROIT -- Nick Castellanos is "very close" to being major-league ready at the plate, according to Detroit Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski.

As an outfielder? Castellanos still has some work to do, but he apparently has plenty of promise.

"As Gene Roof just told me, he's going to be a good outfielder," Dombrowski said Wednesday afternoon, referring to the Tigers' baserunning and outfielder coordinator. "He's not
going to have any problem being a good outfielder. Is he a good
outfielder yet? No. Is he going to be a good outfielder? Yes."

Castellanos made the switch to right field last week after playing third base for Single-A Lakeland and Double-A Erie prior to that. Dombrowski gave a quick rundown of his abilities in the outfield.

"He runs well enough, he has a good arm and he wants to be successful out
there," Dombrowski said. "He's an intelligent guy. He knows that Cabrera is at third base
here. The quickest route for him to play with us is in the outfield."

Dombrowski said the move to right field is not set in stone. The Tigers could eventually move Castellanos back to third base or over to left field. (Although third base will not be an option as long as Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder are both on the team.) Castellanos might even play at third in the Arizona Fall League, Dombrowski said. But for the foreseeable future, he will play in right field.

Castellanos hit .405 with a 1.014 OPS in 55 games for Single-A Lakeland before being promoted to Double-A Erie. He is hitting .302 with six home runs and 18 RBIs in 34 games there.

Two times in a four-minute conversation about Castellanos, Dombrowski interjected the phrase "his bat's getting very close to playing" into a sentence.

"Let's just say his bat plays well enough," Dombrowski added. "Well, he's not going to come
up and play at third base for us right now. But he might be able to do
it in the outfield. I'm not saying that he is, but he might be able to
do it in the outfield."

It was suggested to Dombrowski that saying Castellanos's bat is "getting close to playing" is saying a lot.

"He's a good hitter," Dombrowski responded.

In the end, he could be a solid outfielder, too.

"He works hard at it," Dombrowski said. "He's worked hard and he's made a couple
mistakes out there, which is understandable, but he's done very well
early. Gene Roof's very impressed and he said he's going to be a good
outfielder."